Chennai: In yet another twist to the never ending merger saga, former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Sunday announced the disbanding of the ‘merger committee’ of his faction of AIADMK for negotiating a merger with the ruling AIADMK led by his successor Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Addressing a public meeting at suburban Thiruverkadu late Sunday evening, Panneerselvam said there was no need for such a committee since people do not want a merger of both factions.
“The people of Tamil Nadu are not desiring such merger initiatives. We have the support of the people and they want us to fight alone. So, I have disbanded the committee formed to negotiate merger talks with immediate effect,” Mr Panneerselvam told the public meeting.
His comments assume significance in the wake of a three-way split in the AIADMK with more than 30 MLAs owing allegiance to party’s deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran and the Edappadi Palaniswami faction pushing for the merger with OPS faction.
Panneerselvam’s announcement of disbanding the committee to negotiate the merger came just hours after Lok Sabha deputy speaker M. Thambidurai expressed confidence that both the factions would merge soon. “Mr. Panneerselvam has told me that he is keen on merger,” he told reporters in Krishnagiri on Sunday.
At the public meeting, Mr Panneerselvam alleged that the ruling AIADMK was presently under the control of ‘one single family’ and the party should be retrieved.
He also reiterated the demand for CBI probe in the mysterious death of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. The official twitter account of Panneerselvam @OfficeOfOPS also tweeted his announcement of disbanding the panel.
The merger of the two factions has been a mystery since no talks took place publicly. Ever since both factions named representatives to the committee, there has been public criticism of each other and imposing of conditions in the public domain and before the media. Both factions had exchanged barbs against each other for the past few months.
